The Cleveland Cavaliers’ New Downtown Practice Facility Is A Big Deal

This week, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Cleveland Clinic, in partnership with Bedrock, announced plans for what they are calling a “first-of-its-kind sports performance.” Called the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center, it would include the team’s practice and a “interdisciplinary training center.”

“This past December, Bedrock unveiled its visionary and ambitious Cuyahoga Riverfront Master Plan that will transform Cleveland’s riverfront into one of the world’s premier waterfronts,” said Dan Gilbert, Cleveland Cavaliers Governor and Bedrock Chairman. “With today’s announcement, we are taking the first step in realizing that vision by joining forces with Cleveland Clinic to design an innovative Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center right in Downtown Cleveland. This center will not only serve our team on and off the court, but it will create an opportunity for the everyday athlete to receive state-of-the-art care in Northeast Ohio.”

The plan the statement refers to is a plan announced in February that aims to turn 35 acres of land behind Tower City Center in Cleveland into offices, apartments and green space. The project was designed by Sir David Adjaye, who previously designed the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The project has a 20-year timeline and a $3.5 billion budget.

The facility also continues and expands the team’s corporate relationship with the Cleveland Clinic, the area’s biggest hospital and one of the largest employers in the region. The Cleveland Clinic has naming rights on the team’s current practice facility in Independence, Ohio (about 20 minutes outside of downtown Cleveland) and has partnered with the Cavs on different health initiatives.

“Cleveland Clinic is proud to partner with Bedrock and the Cleveland Cavaliers to announce our intention to move forward with this monumental plan that will greatly impact the health and well-being of our region for generations to come,” said Tom Mihaljevic, MD, CEO and President and Morton L. Mandel CEO Chair, Cleveland Clinic. “Our sports medicine teams are known around the world for treating and taking care of athletes of all abilities and ages; it would be an honor to grow this program in our hometown of Cleveland with two great partners as we engage in the revitalization of downtown.”

There’s also a real benefit for the basketball side of of the Cavs organization. For starters, it moves the team’s practice facility — where players spend more time than the arena — to downtown area and not a surrounding suburb. It’s part of a trend of NBA teams upgrading and moving their facilities to downtown areas where players often live or live close to. It’s also a chance to do what other teams have done and upgrade their facilities using modern technology.

In reading Koby Altman’s statement, it’s clear this is in part about helping the Cavs make their case to players. Cleveland isn’t a destination market. It might never be. But perhaps this can help.

“Our vision for the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center is to serve as more than just a practice or training facility,” said Altman, President of Basketball Operations for the Cleveland Cavaliers. “By creating a sustainable hub of resources to serve our players, we have an opportunity to retain and attract the league’s top talent, strengthen the life-span of their careers, and help them reach their highest potential. These plans represent a substantial investment in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Championship Culture.”

It also could allow the Cavs to bring their entire basketball family into one facility. The Cleveland Charge, the team’s G League affiliate, now can be easier fit into the facility vs. the Independence location. It’s also conceivable that the Charge could play their homes games at this facility in the way some other teams have done. Currently, the Charge play at the Wolstein Center on Cleveland State’s campus. The Wolstein Center, however, will be replaced in upgrades Cleveland State is embarking on.